


Bee-hive Behavior

by Weresilver-In-Space (JuhllyMBS)



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Aviophobia, BAMF Leonard "Bones" McCoy, Bones deserves vacations, Fics write themselves, Gen, Why did they think this was a good idea?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-10-25 07:22:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17720681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JuhllyMBS/pseuds/Weresilver-In-Space
Summary: Leonard hated flying, everyone knew that, andpilotinghad always been out of the question. Until Altamid. First attempt had already been a nightmare, and the second was hardly any better.





	Bee-hive Behavior

_Lead the bees toward the center_. Jim didn’t mention his plan was to get them to ram against the Franklin. He also didn’t mention he’d chase after Krall, although Leonard knew he should have expected that from Jim, almost getting himself sucked out into space included.

But all was said and done. Yorktown was safe, Jim was safe and Krall was gone. All left to do was land that swarmship and get out of it. Leonard was pretty sure his hands had not stopped shaking since they first crashed on Altamid, but the firm grip he had on the helm controls kept it under wraps.

Spock was watching Jim and the captain looked around the ship, both slumped against its walls. Better this way, Leonard thought. Jim said nothing about the amount of time it was taking him to figure out how to land, but Spock did. _Of course_ he did.

“Doctor, I suggest you land this ship soon,” Spock turned away from the navigation screen to look at him. “It is impossible to tell how much longer we will stay in the air–”

“ _Goddammit_ , Spock!” Leonard snapped, barely throwing a glance at him. He couldn’t afford to crash again. “I’m _not_ a pilot, so let me figure out how to land this thing in _peace_!”

Spock called to the doctor one more time, but a light kick to his foot took his attention away from what he was going to say. He turned to Jim, who furrowed his brows in disapproval of his attempt. No argument would help Leonard land the ship. In fact, maybe not a lot would, as, in Leonard own words, he was no pilot, and the two of them should have known better.

Jim got up and slowly made his way to the front, where Leonard occupied the pilot’s seat, and it was no mystery to his untrained eyes just how tense his friend was.

“Bones,” Jim spoke with the softest voice he could muster in spite of the bruises, “You should take a break, I can take it from here.”

“No,” he was quick to answer, “You just got out of a fist fight and almost got thrown out into space.” Bones looked briefly at his captain, whose face was partially painted red due to the number of bruises and cuts he had. God knows what else happened to his head because of that fight. “You and Spock are in no condition to land this thing.”

“And _you_ are?”

“I'm fine, Jim.” He squeezed the helm controls a little tighter, without looking back at Jim. “I can handle it.”

“I could…” Jim tried again. “I could get a pilot to help you, walk you through the landing.”

Leonard didn’t answer and Jim merely crossed his arms, expectantly, not moving from the unwilling pilot’s side. For all Leonard complained of Jim's stubbornness, he was hardly any different. Spock watched the exchange from the back, without a word. Well, no one tried to say anything after that, and the silence grated on Leonard's nerves far too quickly.

It took more time than he would have liked to figure out how to maintain the ship’s position steady. Leonard wouldn't particularly call it _steady_ , to be frank, but all things considered, something was getting done. The beeping of the communicator drew his attention once again to Jim, who didn’t notice the doctor’s eyes resting on him.

“ _Captain?_ ” The familiar voice of the Enterprise's helmsman came through. “ _Is everything okay?_ ”

“Sulu!” Jim’s smirk couldn't be seen, but his tone would certainly give its existence away. “Just the man we needed.”

Jim placed the communicator in front of Leonard carefully so it wouldn't fall. They were steady enough, it couldn't be that bad. The doctor glared at him, but Jim was quick to smile and back away to where Spock was.

“ _Captain...?_ ”

“McCoy here,” he sighed, aware that Sulu would have a pretty good guess of what was going on. “Straight to the point,” he lowered his voice, perhaps subconsciously, as the ship was too small for it to make any difference. “I guess I could use some help on how to land this thing without crashin’ it.”

There was a brief moment of silence. “ _Alright,_ ” Sulu responded with no questions about the emergency flight classes he would know Leonard had to take in the Academy for a starship posting. “ _Let me just– There. Thanks,_ ” he sounded distant, talking to someone else. “ _I got visual on the ship now,_ ” he was talking to Leonard again, “ _First, go back to that central square we left the Franklin in, it was evacuated and it should be pretty safe to land there._ ”

The said square wasn’t far from where they were hovering. Leonard made his way there the best he could – that was a very different situation than chasing after a man. There was not the same amount of adrenaline as before to keep him focused on what he had to do.

As the ship approached the central square of Yorktown, Sulu spoke again, telling him to stay a few meters clear of it. Leonard would have to descend slowly towards it, leveling the ship every now and then in order to land as softly as possible. Maybe he could have gone without mention of how these ships were meant to _dock_ , and not to _land_.

“Soft crash,” Leonard noted in a specially low voice. A nervous chuckle escaped him. “Great, just what I needed.”

“ _Sorry, doc, that's the easiest way to explain._ ” Leonard's sigh was well heard on the ship and through the communicator. “ _Just, uh… Do it calmly, and it’ll be alright._ ”

“That's half the problem, mister Sulu.”

Leonard took a deep breath in and exhaled it slowly. At that point, he was delaying the inevitable, but at least his… Passengers had the consideration of keeping quiet. Maybe Jim was keeping Spock in line? Whatever. He descended a few meters, slower than possibly necessary, then leveled it out. Perhaps it would be faster and safer to have someone else do it, but Jim took navigation and not flight classes, and it would be uncomfortable, not to say painful, for Spock to do it.

“ _Doctor?_ ” Leonard's thoughts had completely drowned out whatever Sulu was saying until he called to him again. He made some form of acknowledging noise, and the real helmsman continued. “ _You're doing great, there's not much to go now._ ”

“Good god.” Leonard hoped Jim and Spock couldn’t hear them, or at least that they were not paying attention. “I feel like a kid learnin’ to ride a bicycle.” He paused, descending and leveling the ship some more. “You better keep this between us.”

Sulu let out a brief laugh. “ _Just me and Uhura here, doctor._ ” Leonard could live with that, he supposed. He leveled the ship one more time and glanced back. Jim and Spock were once again sitting down in front of each other, talking about whatever they talk about when off-duty. Knowing Spock, Leonard was sure he would want to start on reports as soon as they were out of that ship, but it was his say if he would or not. Jim was mostly listening, for once, as he should be with however many bruises he had on the left side of his face. They were not simply walking away from Medical.

“ _Alright, you’re good to touch down,_ ” Sulu announced. “ _It’s not going to be particularly smooth, but… It should be manageable?_ ”

Just one final descent and they would be on solid ground. As solid as a space snowglobe could be, at any rate. It was shaky, to say the least, but in the slow speed they were in, which Leonard refused to have any different, they stopped quickly enough. _They actually stopped._

Jim helped Spock up and they were quick to open the hatch and leave. Leonard couldn’t blame them, he was desperate to leave that ship himself, but he couldn’t let go of the handles just yet. He took a deep breath. Then another… He stayed still for maybe a minute or two, trying his damn best to gather himself until he finally let go. His palms were bruised due to how tight his grip had been – these swarmships were meant to be piloted by a species with harder skin, for sure – and how often he fidgeted his hands.

He stayed seated for an extra moment, continuing to take deep breaths. He looked down at his still shaking, now bruised hands and sighed.

The communicator rang again. “ _Doctor McCoy?_ ” Sulu called, and Leonard could hear him just outside. “ _Are you alright?_ ”

“Yeah, I'll, uh…” Leonard was far from okay, but he'd be damned if he would let it show. “I’ll be right outside. Who’s out there?” The question came out before Leonard could really think about it.

“ _Just me, doc._ ” Sulu’s reply came as thoughtlessly as the question. “ _Uhura left with Spock and the captain to make sure they both stay in Yorktown Hospital._ ” Leonard felt some relief over the fact _someone_ would make sure Jim got a decent check-up. “ _Although I’m pretty sure there are some eager engineers just waiting for the shuttle…_ ”

Leonard finally climbed down from the seat he occupied in the last couple of hours with a chuckle. He took Jim’s communicator and climbed out of the ship. The metal felt particularly cold in his palms, but Leonard was quick to bury his hands in pockets.

“Better not to leave those engineers hangin’,” Leonard spoke as both of them walked out of the square. “Just got one question.” Sulu turned to him, curious. “How the hell do you do this?”

The helmsman let out a small chuckle. “I guess I got used to it,” he said with a shrug, “I spent my entire life flying.” Sulu paused, pondering his next words. “But for someone with aviophobia, not crashing on the first try is a big deal.” Leonard turned a questioning glare toward him. “Uhura told me,” he was quick to add.

“Whatever,” Leonard grumbled, turning his attention back to the street ahead of him. “First of all, this was the _second_ try.” He rose a finger in order to stop Sulu from interjecting. “And it did crash.”

It was just a brief moment. Leonard tucked his hand back into the pocket as soon as he finished speaking, but it was enough to soften Sulu's expression. The doctor was considerably less shaky, but it was still there.

“How about a drink after your check-up in the hospital?” Leonard seemed surprised by the invitation attached to the unspoken advice. “I mean, I'm pretty sure you’d order a check-up to everyone.”

“Y’know, if you weren’t married, I’d question your motives.” That might have caused the first lengthy, hearty laugh they shared in the last few days. “But I’ll take you up on it.”

Leonard could use the break after recent events. He relaxed enough to feel the dull ache in his hands and shoulders caused by how stiff he had been, but a quick run of dermal regenerator would suffice for the bruises, at least. He also wanted to check on the others, maybe find an excuse to stab Jim with a hypospray. Payback, Leonard supposed, for making him do this a second time. He also wanted to talk to Spock, check on the half-Vulcan and make sure he was actually okay. That, and a good shot of bourbon would do wonders for his nerves.

**Author's Note:**

> I have not been idle!! Finished on the 7th of February. And there is, in fact, another thing in the works.


End file.
